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Employability and students’ part-time work in the UK: does self-efficacy and career aspiration matter?
No full textAmid a growing focus on graduate employability, this study examines the relationship between students’ part-time work, career aspirations and self-efficacy, in a survey of 357 UK students from two post-92 universities. The results suggest a positive and significant relationship between part-time work and career aspiration. Students who work part-time, and value this opportunity, are likely to have a high career aspiration and strive to enhance their employability agenda. Self-efficacy (students’ belief in their ability to succeed) is significantly associated with career aspiration. No significant gender differences were found in our sample for all study variables. Finally, students’ level of study and malleable self-theories (the belief that people are changeable and with effort can achieve more) were found to be the strongest predictors of part-time work, while self-efficacy is the strongest predictor of career aspiration. These findings confirm the importance of individual self-efficacy in the value attached to part-time working among students in higher education (HE). Nonetheless, those students who do not work part-time while studying, do so mainly because they do not want to detract from their study. The concluding part of the paper discusses relevant application and policy implications of these findings
Using part-time working to support graduate employment: Needs and perceptions of employers
Get PDFThis work explores the value attached to work experience of graduates and particularly the value of part-time working whilst studying for a degree, from an employers’ perspective. A documentary analysis of graduate recruiters was conducted to assess the extent to which work experience was specified for graduate employment programmes and then further interviews carried out with a sample of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to explore how part-time working of graduates is perceived by employers. Work is deemed to be important to employers, not only as a differentiator, but as a measure of how graduates will perform in-post. However, employers generally signalled the value of work experience, indicating graduates do not make best use of it in job applications. The findings will inform and challenge universities and educators of the contribution and importance of students’ part-time working in respect of supporting graduate employment prospects and also contribute to the employability agenda within the HE curriculum
Multitasking, but for what benefit? The dilemma facing Nigerian university students regarding part-time working
No full textStudents working part-time while studying for a full-time university degree are commonplace in many Western countries. This paper, however, examines the historically uncommon part-time working activities and career aspirations among Nigerian university students. In particular, how working is perceived to contribute to developing employability skills, and whether it is influenced by their self-efficacy. Survey data from 324 questionnaires were collected from a federal university, although the data analysis used a mixed method. The findings indicate that despite low levels of part-time working generally among students, older, more experienced, higher level and female students place a premium on the skills that part-time work can develop. Moreover, self-efficacy and being female is a significant predictor in understanding part-time work and career aspirations. This study offers originality by focusing on students’ part-time work, the value working provides and its link with career aspirations, within a relatively unexplored context of Nigeria
Designing Open Electronic Texts in Education: Positioning Theory Revisited
Get PDFA series of investigations into aspects of designing electronic texts is summarised. One aspect is a critical evaluation of existing provision, including educational videos and available software like PowerPoint and Xerte, and a description of our own practice over several years. There is a review of more theoretical work about ‘realism’ in cinema and in visual ethnography, and effects which include ‘positioning’ the viewer as passive. We discuss the potential of electronic texts for organising academic material in a more open ‘writerly’ way than is conventional, and end with suggesting future theoretical inquiry
Utility of field-based techniques to assess Indigenous Australians' functional fitness and sedentary time
No full textTo examine the utility of field-based techniques to assess functional exercise capacity and sedentary time in Indigenous and non-Indigenous regional Australian adults.
Study design
Observational, analytic cohort study.
Methods
Ninety six adults residing in regional and remote Australian communities participated in this study (Indigenous n = 61 and non-Indigenous Australians n = 35). Participants undertook a field-based test of functional exercise capacity (6 min walk test; 6 MWT) and wore an accelerometer during waking hours for seven days, provided self-report data on physical activity and sedentary time and rated experiences in regard to the ease of complying with study protocols.
Results
There were high levels of compliance in this study (Indigenous: 91% and non-Indigenous: 97%). Functional exercise capacity was lower in Indigenous Australians (P < 0.001), and independently associated with advancing age, higher BMI, and indigeneity, with 45% of variability in the 6 MWT distance explained by these factors. The relationship between accelerometer and self-report measures of sedentary behaviour was significant (P < 0.001) but only explained 17% of the total variation.
Conclusions
This study demonstrated very good compliance for the methods utilised and is the first to report reduced functional exercise capacity in Indigenous people.
Implications
The field-based techniques from this study demonstrate good utility for larger scale implementation in regional Indigenous populations
The 2015 INSPIRE Lecture on Literature and Sustainability: Animal Lives, Binary Opposition, and Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer
No full textUnderstanding fear and anxiety in patients at the time of an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a qualitative study
Get PDFObjectives
To determine the importance of fear and anxiety at the time of an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. To assess the influence of carers and health professionals on this fear and anxiety.
Design
A qualitative study to elicit the views of patients and their carers during a hospital admission for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Setting
Interviews were conducted in a District General Hospital.
Participants
Twenty patients were interviewed shortly after admission to hospital with an exacerbation.
Main outcome measures
Key themes were identified using cross-sectional thematic analysis of transcripts where commonalities and differences were identified.
Results
Four themes emerged: panic and fear; anxiety management techniques used during an exacerbation; intervention from family members and carers; response to medical services.
Conclusion
Panic and fear are important emotions prior to admission. Many patients recognised the link between panic-fear and a worsening of symptoms, and some were able to use self-management techniques to reduce their panic-fear. Some relatives were seen as helping and others exacerbating the symptoms of panic-fear. The emergency services were seen as positive: providing reassurance and a sense of safety. How best to help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease manage panic and fear remains a challenge
Towards an understanding of frequent ambulance use in England
No full textObjectives
In response to a perceived lack of evidence on frequent callers, a national ambulance service group was established in England in April 2013 to bring experts together from each ambulance service to share best practice and explore Methods of improving the quality of care delivered to this population group. This presentation will bring together aligned pieces of work, including:
• A systematic review of international literature on frequent
callers
• An analysis of frequent callers to one ambulance service
• Development of an ambulance quality indicator (AQI) for frequent callers
Methods
Multiple Methods were utilised. For the systematic review, Ovid,PubMed and CINAHL / Medline were systematically searched
for articles that were published in English and either referred to frequent callers to or users of EMSs, or referred to frequent users of other services where admissions were via ambulance. The analysis of the top 100 frequent callers to an ambulance service used population comparison, case control and multiple regression Methods. The development of an AQI drew upon the findings from these two studies and meetings with representatives from all ambulance services in England.
Results
There is a paucity of research on frequent callers, with no standard definition of what constitutes a frequent caller. Of the top 100 callers, patients with a psychiatric classification had a higher number of different reasons for calling (p=0.002), were older (p<0.001) and were more likely to call for ‘Assault / Sexual Assault’ (p=0.001) or ‘Haemorrhage / Laceration’ (p=0.023). ‘Psychiatric / Abnormal Behaviour / Suicide Attempt’ was the third biggest predictor of the total number of calls made (p<0.001). The AQI was modified to include a standard, national definition
of a frequent caller, and national guidelines for the management of frequent callers are being developed.
Conclusions
This body of work encapsulates current progress in England on the topic of frequent callers, which has helped to standardise care cross ambulance services. It is still unknown how to best provide integrated care across health and social care boundaries for frequent callers, how frequent callers themselves narrate their own healthcare use and how they impact upon the wider health economy